BFrank

It got sort of a mixed review from Ben Ratliff in the NY Times: KENNY GARRETT “Beyond the Wall” (Nonesuch) The jazz saxophonist Kenny Garrett, after a recent trip to China, started building notions about the similarities between Chinese and African cultures, including matters of health and philosophy, as well as pentatonic scales in music. What he came up with is “Beyond the Wall,” an album billed by the label as “a musical and spiritual exploration of the connections between China and Africa.” But jazz listeners won’t have to break their heads on this concept: the album owes more to the John Coltrane Quartet than either of those enormous land masses. Mr. Garrett as always is poised, fast and deft on alto saxophone; his sense of time is ironbound, and he arranges his soloing ideas into confident streams of irregular phrases. He shares the front line with the tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, one of Coltrane’s old fellow-travelers, whose output has been uneven over the years but who plays astonishingly well here, rich-toned, rhythmically assured and harmonically sophisticated. They work hard on establishing common ground, finding similar pitch areas between the two instruments, and blending their approaches to rhythm. Despite an excellent, deep-cushion rhythm section — Mulgrew Miller on piano, Robert Hurst on bass, Brian Blade on drums — the weak link is Mr. Garrett’s compositions. They use pentatonic scales in some of their melodies and come to rest in long stretches of single chords, with the pianist Mulgrew Miller playing quartal-harmony figures redolent of McCoy Tyner, the pianist from the mid-1960’s Coltrane band. (There are also some singers chanting wordless vocals, which don’t really help or hinder; they become just another layer in the theme sections.) The best of the saxophone playing — especially in the title track and hymnlike track “May Peace Be Upon Them,” with some heavy-duty collective improvising — lifts this record up considerably. But the album sags under a kind of professional tedium, doing something very familiar almost too well. BEN RATLIFF

I ordered a bunch of RVGs: Lee - Gigolo, Tom Cat Hank - Dippin', Workout Horace - Song for My Father, Cape Verdean Blues Also: Santana III (Legacy Edition) 2CD set for $8.33

Two that I left out of that BMG order: Horace Silver: Song for My Father, Cape Verdean Blues (RVGs)

Anyone know anything about "Bix Beiderbecke And The Chicago Cornets" on Fantasy/Milestone?

It seems to be there now. Now that there are others besides me in there. Maybe that was the problem.

I guess we're on the same page tonight, Noj.

That's pretty funny, Noj! I was holding those albums until the right sale came up.

Is it me, or does it no longer show who's in Live Chat in the Board Statistics section at the bottom of the page?

JJJ disk #3

From BMG I ordered for $6.33 each: Hank - Dippin', Workout (RVGs) Lee Morgan - The Gigolo, Tom Cat (RVGs) Andrew Hill - Time Lines $8.33 Santana - III (2CD Legacy Edition)

I believe that there is a fair amount of the late, great John Hicks on this album. Probably some of his last recorded work, so it might be worth picking it up for that reason alone.

Any thoughts on the Berrigan vs. Bix/Tram/Tea?

Hey, Ag, you can get 2 full tunes from that new album here: YLT MP3s They sound good to me! I think I'll probably spring for that covers album, BTW.

There's a video of it available on the BELDEN VIDEO NETWORK. Lots of good stuff there, actually. To see Clifford on Soupy Sales, download the file named: "CB-Medley.m4v"

To the contrary, I would bet that Miles would totally DIG it. He never liked to look back at his old stuff and was always trying to stay contemporary.

Ron Horton has done some interesting stuff.

Speaking of Jeremy Pelt, there are a ton of MP3s (recorded live) that are available on his website here: Jeremy Pelt - MP3s

There's always Charles Tolliver - currently making a return to active performing and recording after a long quiet period. He's due to have a new album on BN with his big band in the next year. His Mosaic Select set is a "must-have" for trumpet fans, IMHO.

I still have both the Columbia album and the Fantasy album, "Moses". I really liked both of them back in the 70's. I listened to the "Brotherhood" album again after reading that piece and still like it. It's kind of an odd mix of country, blues and progressive jazz. George Marsh really sets this album apart from what could have been a bit run-of-the-mill in places. There's some phenomenal drumming there. I forgot that Finnegan played on Electric Ladyland....good catch! BTW, that website with the MP3s mentioned towards the end of the article is here: The Jerry Hahn Brotherhood There's an Arhoolie album that's still in print called "Jerry Hahn & His Quintet", although at 29 minutes it's more like an EP. It has an all-star lineup, though: Michael White, Noel Jewkes, Jack DeJohnette and Ron McClure.

Phil Woods "Pairing Off" "Rights of Swing"

The operative word being "loaded".

Did a little trading at Amoeba today.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't those two tunes recorded in two pieces each? There's a countoff at the beginning of each side, iirc. I don't think so, but I haven't listened to them in a long time. I'll have to check them out soon.

I have a couple of them: - Dannie Richmond "Jazz A Confronto 25" (I believe this was a series) w/Don Pullen, George Adams, Jack Walrath, Dave Friesen, Irio De Paula, Afonso Vieira. 7/28/75. Obviously a Mingus spin-off. - Max Roach "The Loadstar" w/Cecil Bridgewater, Billy Harper, Reggie Workman. 7/27/77. 2 LPs, 2 tunes. This is BEGGING for CD release, if for no other reason than to get these cuts into one piece each.

Conn, I'll give ya' $500 for all of those ... ... oh, nevermind.